Baptiste Morin / Photo credit: Miguel MEDINA / AFP 7:15 p.m., January 18, 2024
According to figures from the GFK institute, which Europe 1 was able to consult, the number of comic books sold last year fell by more than 10%, despite the releases of the Asterix and Gaston Lagaffe.
Since 2020 and the health crisis, comic book sellers have become accustomed to years that are always more prosperous than the others.
In 2021 and 2022, the market recorded sales records with turnover close to one billion euros.
Last year, comic book sales seemed to have started to return to reality.
Inflation is not innocent there.
The number of comic books sold fell by 11% year-on-year, which represents some 10 million fewer albums purchased.
Market turnover fell by 5%.
Manga sales fall even more heavily
In detail, GFK data shows that the release of the album
L'Iris Blanc
, the last part of the adventures of Asterix and whose sales exceeded one million, and the return to bookstores of Gaston Lagaffe, more than 15 years old after the death of its creator Franquin, supported the market, especially aimed at young people.
Symbol of the success of comics in recent years, mangas hit a slump in 2023, with sales down 18% (-13% for turnover).
The manga benefited from a “Covid effect” and the Culture Pass.
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However, there is no necessarily reason to worry a few days before the opening of the 51st Angoulême Festival.
Sales of comics remain 55% higher than in 2019, those of manga 110% (!) stronger than before the health crisis.